Math before Anatomy and Physio

At my school of you don't have the prereqs done, you will get booted out of the class before the first day. Honestly, if it's a listed prereq, I would do it so you're better prepared for the class, especially A&P.

Is it a recommended prerequisite or a required prerequisite? If it's the latter, you don't have a choice. At my school you won't be able to register at all.

My CC says this about prerequisites - this is from a biology class that's a pre-req did A&P:

Prerequisite: Placement into college-level English, reading, and math; co-requisite: BIO-151L-801. Successful completion of both high school biology & chemistry is strongly recommended.

In order to register for this class, I had to demonstrate that I had taken college-level English, reading, math classes, but it didn't matter that they were from my first degree from 20 years ago.

In order to apply to the nursing program, I had to either take a specific math class OR take a placement test.

Check with your school and find out what the requirements are. You may have met them - or be able to meet them with a placement test - without having to take an additional class. Generally, though, there's a block put on your ability to register if academic advisement hasn't noted that you've met the requirements.

Editing to add that if they're requiring a Math-029 class, that doesn't sound like a class for credit, but a remedial or basic class the grey students prepared for college-level math. It's common to test out of those with a placement test.

Thanks very much for all your responses. For the sake of clarification, here are the cascading requirements:

BIO-117 Basic Anatomy & Physiology I (4.00 cr.)

This course is designed to introduce the basic principles of anatomy and physiology to nursing and allied health students. Following an introduction to the organization of the human body, basic chemistry, and basic cell biology, Basic Anatomy and Physiology (BIO 117) examines the histology, gross anatomy and

functions of organs of the integumentary, skeleton, muscular, and nervous systems. Laboratories are designed to supplement the lecture material and include the use of the following materials: histology slides, models, preserved specimens and computer simulated physiology exercises.

Lecture (30.00), Laboratory (60.00)

Prerequisites: ENG-013, ENG-023 and MTH-029

MTH-029 Elementary Algebra Traditional (4.00 cr.)

This course is designed for students who require a background of elementary

algebra before taking further college mathematics courses. The course provides

the students a familiarity with mathematical symbols and operations in order to

formulate and solve first-degree and second-degree equations, graph equations

and systems of equations, and work with polynomials, rational expressions, and

radicals. Students will apply appropriate mathematical and statistical concepts

and operations to interpret data and to solve problems. (Credits do not apply

toward graduation requirements.) Basic computation is a fundamental objective

of this course. Therefore, the use of calculators is prohibited.

Lecture (60.00), Laboratory (15.00)

Prerequisites: MTH-011

MTH-011 PreAlgebra Traditional (3.00 cr.)

This course is designed for the college student who needs training in basic

numerical processes with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, ratios, proportions, percentages, signed numbers and linear equations. (Credits do not apply toward graduation requirements). Basic computation is a fundamental objective of this course. Therefore the use of calculators is prohibited.

Lecture (45.00), Laboratory (15.00)

Have you taken college algebra? Sounds to me like it's a prerequisite for A & P which I don't understand why. Most schools usually require biology as a prerequisite to AP.

Some schools require biology as a prerequisite for both A & P while others require chemistry before physiology. I personally would recommend taking Bio 101 then chemistry and then A & P.

Typically when a college class begins with a 0 (for example, Math 029) it's more of a college readiness class that will prepare students for college level classes. Like the person said above, there are usually placement tests that your CC that should offer, that will determine whether you still need to take this class or not. I would speak with a counselor or some type of college advisor, to determine if you really need this class or not.

I'm not sure why they would include algebra as a prerequisite for A&P. At my first college, A&P were separate, semester-length courses, with anatomy having biology as a prerequisite. That made sense as there was a lot of lab skills taught in biology as well as an understanding of cellular level organization which was useful in histology. Physiology had a chemistry prerequisite, which also made sense as there are a lot of mechanisms in the body which occur through chemical reactions. Those classes did have a math requirement (not important at all in biology, somewhat important in chemistry though).

My second college (the one I actually did A&P at) only had biology as a prerequisite for the course, though English and math at a certain level was recommended, probably just to make sure you can function in a course at college levels. When I took A&P the biology I took at my first college didn't transfer over, so they wanted me to take their biology before A&P; I was able to talk to the dean of sciences and plead my case and he let me in the course (he was actually instructing it) and continued to let me take the rest of the three-quarter series of classes as well as microbiology, despite not completing the college's biology prerequisite. Talk to a counselor or dean if you think you can take the course without taking math first to see if they can waive the prereq requirement.

The CC I attended allowed students to get ahead (as in, take classes prior to the pre-req) as long as they're basics. But the transcript showed a P for pending, since they can't get credit for it until all the pre-reqs were completed. This created a hurdle for students who were receiving FAFSA. The only content in A&P in the realm of math was temperature conversions, BMI, volume and weight conversions, and metric conversions. And, I think a thing or two on BMR and half-life calculations.

Overall, brushing up on your math before getting into something that may require math skills is not a bad idea. Either way, make sure you pay close attention to word problems, keep all your notes, and practice that math right before you get into the RN prog. At the start of each RN-school semester (usually orientation day), except the 1st semester, you will get a dosage calculation exam that requires 90%-100% accuracy. I saw at least 40% of my classmates fail these tests, b/c the prog. runs FAST, and you run out of time to practice math very easily.

Have you tested for Math, English, etc?

That -029 course doesn't look like it's even college level. Those courses are usually 101 or higher.

If you do a math placement test, you may test out, or qualify for a higher level course. Assuming you'll eventually go for a BSN, you'll probably need to take at least "College Algebra"